TL;DR

Two landspout tornadoes touched down near Buna, Texas on the evening of August 22, 2026, causing significant damage to aluminum roofing and outbuildings. The tornadoes were part of a widespread severe weather outbreak that produced 289 wind reports, 40 hail reports, and 2 tornado reports across 19 states.

Two landspout tornadoes struck the same area northwest of Buna, Texas within seven minutes of each other on Thursday evening, damaging structures and marking the only confirmed tornado activity in the United States over the past 24 hours.

The National Weather Service in Lake Charles confirmed both tornadoes touched down approximately six miles north-northwest of Buna in Jasper County. The first landspout occurred at 2125 UTC (4:25 PM CDT), followed by a second at 2132 UTC (4:32 PM CDT). Both reports were corrections to earlier preliminary assessments.

What happened near Buna?

According to the National Weather Service, Jasper County Emergency Management and local media outlet KFDM submitted photographs documenting "significant damage to an aluminum roof and aluminum outbuildings." The tornadoes have not yet been assigned Enhanced Fujita scale ratings, and damage surveys may still be underway.

Landspout tornadoes form differently than the classic supercell tornadoes associated with major outbreaks. They develop along convergence boundaries beneath growing thunderstorms, often with little advance warning. While typically weaker than supercell tornadoes, landspouts can still cause localized damage—as evidenced by the structural impacts near Buna.

The Buna area sits in Southeast Texas, roughly 30 miles north of Beaumont and close to the Louisiana border. The region experienced isolated thunderstorm activity Thursday afternoon and evening as part of a broader severe weather pattern affecting the Gulf Coast and Southeast.

A wind-driven severe weather day

While tornado activity remained limited to Texas, the same weather systems driving convection across the country produced a significant wind event. The NOAA Storm Prediction Center (SPC) logged 289 wind reports across 19 states on August 22, making damaging winds the dominant severe weather hazard of the day.

States affected by severe weather included Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Wind damage highlights

Severe wind reports ranged from downed tree limbs to structural damage:

  • Arkansas: A carport was lofted and overturned in Gassville, documented in social media imagery.
  • West Virginia: Multiple trees downed along roadways, causing localized power outages in Lincoln and Washington counties.

The wind reports were concentrated in two geographic clusters: the Ohio Valley and Appalachian region in the afternoon, and the northern Rockies and High Plains in the evening.

Hail across the Midwest and Appalachians

In addition to the widespread wind damage, 40 hail reports were logged across eight states. The largest hailstones—up to 1.75 inches (golf ball size)—fell near Westlake, Ohio at 2122 UTC, just west of Cleveland.

Other notable hail reports included:

  • Colorado: Multiple reports of quarter- to golf-ball-size hail east of Denver, including 1.75-inch stones near Jackson Reservoir and 1.50-inch hail south of Watkins.
  • West Virginia: Golf ball hail (1.75 inches) reported near Capon Springs in Hampshire County.
  • Kentucky and Arkansas: Scattered quarter-size hail across the central portions of both states.

Most hail fell between 1900 and 2300 UTC (early to mid-afternoon local time) as daytime heating destabilized the atmosphere and triggered pulse thunderstorms.

The broader weather pattern

The severe weather on August 22 unfolded along multiple frontal boundaries and beneath mid-level shortwave troughs moving across the northern tier of the United States. According to the SPC Day 1 Convective Outlook issued on August 23, a shortwave trough moved from the Pacific Northwest into the northern Rockies, supporting thunderstorm development across Montana and the northern High Plains.

Meanwhile, a separate upper trough over the Great Lakes and Northeast helped trigger convection across the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Appalachian regions. Weak instability and modest wind shear supported organized cells capable of producing damaging winds and hail, though tornado potential remained low outside of isolated landspout scenarios.

The SPC outlook for August 23 includes a Slight Risk across portions of the northern Rockies, northern Plains, and northern Great Basin, with thunderstorms capable of large hail and damaging winds expected through the afternoon and evening.

Landspouts: a different kind of tornado

Landspout tornadoes—sometimes called "non-supercell tornadoes"—form along boundaries where air converges beneath developing cumulus clouds. Unlike the rotating mesocyclones that spawn classic tornadoes in supercell thunderstorms, landspouts develop from the ground up as rising air is stretched and spun by wind shear near the surface.

The term "landspout" is analogous to "waterspout," and these tornadoes share similar formation mechanisms. They tend to be:

  • Short-lived, often lasting only a few minutes
  • Narrow, with damage paths typically less than 100 yards wide
  • Weaker than supercell tornadoes, though EF1 and occasional EF2 landspouts do occur
  • Difficult to predict, as they form rapidly with little radar indication

Landspouts are most common in the High Plains during the summer months, but they can occur anywhere conditions support strong surface convergence beneath growing thunderstorms. The Southeast Texas environment on August 22—characterized by surface heating, Gulf moisture, and weak low-level convergence—fit the landspout profile.

What this means for severe weather awareness

The Buna tornadoes underscore an important reality: tornado risk does not disappear outside of traditional outbreak setups. Even on days when the SPC does not highlight a tornado threat, localized spin-ups can occur with little warning.

Landspouts pose a particular challenge for warning operations. Because they form quickly and lack the classic supercell radar signatures forecasters rely on, lead time for tornado warnings can be minimal. Residents in areas experiencing active thunderstorms should remain alert to rapidly changing conditions, even when tornado risk appears low.

For those in areas prone to nighttime severe weather, awareness tools that can break through Do Not Disturb settings are critical. Third-party weather apps are silenced by Do Not Disturb, though Wireless Emergency Alerts for tornado warnings still break through on most phones. VORTEX Pro offers an additional layer by placing phone calls when warnings are issued—calls that can ring through Do Not Disturb once Emergency Bypass is enabled for the number.

Looking ahead

As of August 23, no tornado or severe thunderstorm watches are active across the United States. The SPC Day 1 outlook highlights a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms across the northern Rockies, northern Plains, and northern Great Basin, with large hail and damaging winds the primary threats.

The Day 2 outlook (valid August 24) maintains a Marginal Risk across portions of the northern Plains and Southeast, while the Day 3 outlook (valid August 25) upgrades parts of the central Plains, Midwest, and Mississippi Valley to Slight Risk as a stronger shortwave trough approaches from the west.

Tornado potential remains low in the near term, with wind and hail expected to dominate the severe weather threat through early next week.

VORTEX is a free web app at vortexintel.app that monitors severe weather nationwide. Pro ($4.99/month) places phone calls to your phone when a tornado or flash flood warning is issued for a location you care about — calls can ring through Do Not Disturb once you enable Emergency Bypass for the number, unlike most third-party app notifications.